3D Modelling for Object and Environments.

Maya

Maya is the name of an autodesk software which allows you to design and create object, from houses to people and animals in a three dimensional perspective. It is often used by graphic designers as well as in the architectural field.

Like many graphic design software Maya also has a task bar. On this task bar are tools such as extrude. It also has a wide range of polygons one can choose from to help you create any sort of object you want.

When the software is launched, you would notice a grid like mat or platform on the screen. This platform is where you would create your objects.
Maya also is able to show you your object from different points of views to help you align your object right.

You can also bring your work to life, meaning you can make objects move as well in Maya, so you have an environment with birds flying around.
Maya is a great software and a new experience for me. It is exciting to know I would have the chance to use it this semester.

3D Modelling for Object and Environment

Trip to Mantin

This town was once known as Abu Hassan. Its indigenous people are believed to be Malays from Pantai Seremban. The British were drawn to this place because of the abundance of tin found here, leading to the name many tin which later became Mantin due to the inability of the people of this town to pronouncing the name right.
It is also believed that a Chinese businessman started a mining company in this town hence the name mine tin which later became Mantin.
It is also recorded that this place was once the settlement of a Chinese secret society leader with his family and some followers who have populated this area from generation to generation.

fig.1 This is an image of the shops in Mantin. These buildings also contain restaurants pharmacies and banks.                                                                                                                            fig.2 is an image of the typical old scooter bikes seen in Mantin.

After the trip to Mantin we were asked to design a particular land mark we would like to make our subjects. I decided my subject would be about food.
I sketched out a restaurant and since Mantin is filled with Chinese I decided to design my restaurant in a form of old traditional Chinese buildings.

fig.3 is an image of my initial idea

     
                                                   fig.4  is an image of my work in the process

                                     
                                                     fig.5 is an image of my sketched idea

Interactive Design for Web Technology

Visual Communication

This a a concept which employs the use of visual forms to convey and communicate to the public. These forms may be in tow dimensions, objects, color, pictures drawings, graphic design and many more. Also when it goes with a text it has the ability of making its message clearer.
The principles of visual communication is what we are going to apply in the making of our websites.

First of all it is necessary for you to have an idea of what you want to focus on. This is the stepping stone and would make it much easier for you to develop something around that idea.
After you have conceived your idea, you should find element which relate to the idea. For instance if you are trying to talk about a car you know the elements of the car are the wheels, windows etc.
After the next thing for you to do is to choose a type face which supports your idea or product or message you desire to share with the public. The right type face can easily draw attention to your message. Also you should desist from using different typefaces, as we learnt in the principles of multimedia design consistency is very important.
It is necessary that you select your colors and images not because of their aesthetics but because there is a logic behind it. You select these things in relation to your initial idea or else your message would be lost and your end product would be a total waste. For instance you do not use dark colors when your message is about being happy or love.
As we read in the principles of multimedia, white space is another vital necessity when designing, it provide the sense of neatness and order. Hence it is important to apply them here as well.
Also your design should be able to help you audience easily identify what your story is, or what you are trying to talk about. If you do not tell it as it is you would not have anyone interested in your website because they would not be able to tell and identify what you want to talk about it is like beating about the bush.
We learnt in principles of multimedia how to use bold and small letters to draw the audience attention to what comes first or what is important. It is a similar case here you should be able to draw the attention of your audience with your design to what comes first.
Finally it is important to maintain a specific layout through out. This again takes as back to the issue of consistency which is very vital in designing a good website since it would prevent confusion when your audience opens your site.

Now we take a look at a few websites and see how well they have applies these principles.

The first site I would like to take a look at is Black Negative.
This site is one of the most interactive site I have ever visited. It has a layout which seems to move from left to right with the cursor. It is a site which basically deals with videos and pictures which are meant to tell stories of people and places. In relation to the name of the site and the purpose it is clear to see that they fit and make perfect sense. This sight has fantastic navigation, with each page having a cool sound track in the background. It also uses simple typography which is maintained through out the site.It gives the audience the feeling that they are part o the sight due to its stunning interface and the mechanisms pf the site

.
The second website is Optimo Hats. This site might not be as interactive as the previous site. However it uses the 2:3 / 1:3 rule exceptionally well. It also has movement and flow that is to say the texts roll out to select option from home page. Also there is a lot of movement which attracts the audience attention. Also when the cursor is put on the hat it seems to bounce and when selected gently flies in to the front of the screen. Simple texts are used and there is a good sense of consistency in its simplicity. The color used is mostly brown but has a cool and classy feel. The site also uses videos which the audience can watch to gain information they need.

The last website is that of H&M. This site has employed the principles of multimedia very well. However it lacks the sort of dynamics the previous sites have. It is dull and very much not interactive. It has no music or dynamic navigation. It also has no flow and everything is still though it has good color balance, white balance and other principles it lacks that sense of interactivity.

 

References

http://www.hm.com/my/
http://www.optimohats.com
http://learn.org/articles/What_is_Visual_Communications.html
http://blacknegative.com

Communicating Practice

10 Literature reviews

I decided to design my game like pokemon an adventure game mixed with strategy,action and puzzles. I found ten literature review which I use as reference for my ideas.

1. Pokemon

This game is an adventure game.It allows the player to roam about and interact with people and the world around him. It is a simple game and has a little bit of strategy,combat, action and puzzles in it. It is not complex and most actions rely on two buttons. It helps build on your imagination.

2. Battle of Beasts

It is a game which merges training of monsters and the development of cities. It also has action and combat in it. It is as simple as pokemon and could easily be played via internet. It also helps guide and improve on the imagination and also creativity.

3. Battle Camp

This game unlike the others is quite more detailed. It has a similar structure to pokemon though its story line is longer. It a game which helps improve on ones strategic skills and is very fun to play.

4. Brave Frontier

This game is a mixture of two games. It has pokemon features that is to say you could capture strange creatures and final fantasy features such as recruiting characters to create your perfect squad. This game also builds on ones strategic skills and imagination also it teaches the power of team work since you also depend on your squad members aid.

5. Fossil Fighters

This game is a full battle game where players battle out their ranks with dinosaurs. This game requires tactics though despite its simple looks. It is a game which helps improve strategic skills as well.

6. Digimon World Dawn and Dusk

This game is almost like pokemon with only a slight difference. Its battle style is very different though it has similar story lines with pokemon. It is a game that improves on imagination, ability to think and strategic skills.

7. PokeMMO

This game is quite interesting, it is not too different from pokemon and you can even play some pokemon versions on it. This games also allows you to play with other pokemon fans and players around the world.

8. Micromon

This game also shares similarities with pokemon when it comes to the capturing of monsters, battling and storage of monsters. It helps build imagination and strategy as well.

9. Haypi Monsters

This game focuses a lot on capturing monsters as well as their training. It is a very enjoyable game and not too complicated to play.

10. Hearthstone

This game deals with war craft hence there are a lot of battles in the game. However it is a blizzard type of game unlike the others where the player moves around in his environment. This games helps build on ones thinking skills. 

All these game have similar traits which have given me ideas on how my game should look like if I should want people to enjoy my game as much as I enjoyed playing some of these games whiles .

Reference

http://gameslikefinder.com/hearthstone-heroes-of-warcraft/

Communicating Practice

How To Start Planning Your Game


Planning is a very essential element when it comes to creating a game, whether two dimensional or three dimensional it is very necessary to plan well so at the end of the day your game would turn out to be of good quality.
One reason why it is important to plan your game is because it would help you know your target audience and the kind of game that will attract such an audience.
There are different types of games and gamists in the world. One group of games we could look at are adventure games such as Super Mario. These games do not need any complex buttons and combinations before one can achieve his set goal. It is more of a straight forward game. Such games are more relaxed than most other games.

Also there are combat games such as Tekken and Mortal Kombat. These games require the combination of various buttons to perform complex moves. Requires players to be fast so they can quickly press more than two ar three buttons at a time.

Also there are fantasy games such as God of War. Such games are about a world which did not exist and are sometimes a little historical. These game do not have complex button combinations too as well but have a lot of difficult tasks and challenges which need to be completed. The player must be fast to perform some skills since sometimes two button are to be pressed to make stunts like scalin a wall.

There are also games such as Call Of Duty. These games are strategy games and teach the player how to make more tactical moves as a soldier. They are usually very violent and also do not require much of complex keys since most of the time you are shooting the enemy. This games requires the player to be alert at all times since a litlle mistake might take him out of the game.

Last but not the least there are sports games such as Fifa15. These games are also not much complicated but require a lot of tactics and alertness since you are supposed to control a lot of football players on the field.

Another element which should be considered is the character or characters of the game since the player is going to be represented by it. The narrative of the game and the plot including scenes must also be in sync to have a good game. Sound effect and music must also be considers when making a game.
With these things taken into consideration, there is no doubt that you would not be able to create the perfect game you desire to make.


http://www.pcgamer.com/12-pc-games-with-amazing-combat/
http://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/genre/date/adventure/all
http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/219590-how-do-you-plan-out-your-game-before-making-it/

Communicating Practice

In this task we were are asked sketch a portrait of one of our class mates. We were all given a person to sketch my subject was Ikon. After sketching out the person we were asked to put in elements that tell us about the person.

                                                          fig.1 Chelsea FC  crest
Ikon is a dedicated football fanatic. Though his favorite team is not chelsea he sometimes wears a chelsea shirt to show how much dedication he has for football.

                                                  fig.2 is a playstation controller pad
   This image shows how Ikon loves video games. One thing you would notice in his room is a playstation console.                                        

                                                       fig.3 is a glass of wine
  Ikon likes to hang out with friends and just chill mostly on weekends he likes going for parties and has fun a lot.            

                                                 fig.4 graffiti work of Ikon's name
 This image is to show that Ikon likes to draw and design. That he is a talented person and can become a very good designer.

                                                         fig.5 shows a smilie
This smily is sticking out his tongue. This is to say that Ikon can be very sill and funny sometimes. But he is a very friendly person and likes to make friends.

                                             fig.6 is an image of a green and white shirt
This image represents Ikon's national flag this is to say that he is Nigerian since the national flag of Nigeria is green white and green.

This is the actual sketch of Ikon and all the icons explained above. This task made me know one or two new extra things about my classmate since.                                                                                

Communicating Practice

Impression of Mantin town

Mantin town is found in the state of Nigeri Sembilan. It is approximately 38 km away from KLIA. There several ways of reaching this town, you either go by train with the train station being Batang Benar or by taking the Cityliner which moves from Kajang to Mantin then to Seremban.
This town's main street is called Jalan Besar , this makes it easy to find your way around Mantin. There a lot of motor scooters and bikes in this town since most of the people here own the kind of vehicles.

                                             fig,1 image of motor scooter in Mantin

This town might not be too big but there are a few places of interest one could visit. For instance the Gurudwara Sahib Sikh temple built in the 19th century is one of the oldest of its kind in Malaysia. Also the majestic St. Andrews Catholic church which was out up in 1901 is a place to see. Kolej Tuanku Ja'afar established in 1991, is a British modeled boarding school. The is also Legenda Education group which has several schools beneath it with its main campus being in Mantin.
Staffieled Country resort is also a an international golf course which was made in 1994 is a place where golf lovers could and partake in their favorite sport. Unfortunately most places of interest that the town used to have such as Taman Rekreasi Gallah which was a recreational park center, have been closed down for development.

                                                    fig.2 an image of the Legenda campus

Mantin also has market day every Sunday evening it is known as Pasar Malam which is a translation of night market.
Again unfortunately some old traditional restaurants are either out of business or have been closed such as Yong Tau Foo vendor whose original shop was closed down.
You could also find fruits such as star fruits, durian, jack fruits, rose apples and guavas in abundance in this town.

                                            fig.3 a cluster of shops found in Mantin

To my surprise I noticed that Mantin has no hotels.
One could also go and have a look at Kampon Hakka village which depicts the original settlements of Mantin. Unfortunately this area of historical essence has been sold to a private investor and now the village's people are being forced to evict and are given a meager sum of 1500 RM to 7000 RM, to find settlements else where which is not fair to them since most of the people here are quite old and have had their whole life and generation after them passing through this place.
It has come to my notice that there is more to Mantin than the small town is seems to be, it is a representation of families, history and cultural essence, these are things people do not realize about this place but if they should step out to explore more I bet they would find this place very interesting.


References

http://wikitravel.org/en/Mantin

http://ww2.studymalaysiaguide.com/?folio=7POYGN0G2

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/10/04/when-100-years-of-existence-doesnt-matter/

Interactive Design for Game and Web Applications

Scratch and How to use it.

In the start of this module students were introduced to a software called Scratch. This is a gaming software which helps any individual to create 2D games.
Unlike other gaming software this software does not require you to type in codes since these codes are already put into scripts for you to utilize.

Script

A script are a set of command codes given to characters in a game so they perform specific actions according to specific events at specific given times.

Backgrounds

Every game requires a background scratch has preset backgrounds for you to choose from for your 2D game.

Sprite

This is not a drink, it is the name given to the numerous characters in scratch aside the preset cat used in making a game.

Interactive Design for Game and Web Technology

Game Analysis

In this task we were asked to analyse a number of games critically. This would help us choose a specific and suitable audience target for our games. I took my time to look at four games.

Dora the Explorer

This is an adventure game with its main target being children. It is a game designed in a form of a series which help children know the name of objects, animals and other things around them. It is a very interactive game because it gives the child the chance to help find a missing object, place,thing or person.

Pokemon                                                                                                                                                 

This game is designed for a much older and more matured children. It is also an adventure game  with a bit of action here and there as well as fantasy. This game was published by Nintendo. This is aninteractive game which allows children identify these strange creatures by name. They also get the chance to pick their own pokemon from the start of the game according to their preference. They also pick battles and can also link gameboys to play with friends.              

Tenchu                                                                                                                                             

This game is a ninja game. It is an action game with adventure as well. The original platform on which it was released was playstation. This game is for more matured people preferably teens from. It also requires parental guidance due to its violent plots. This interactive game allows the audience to choose a character to start the game with. He also is given the chance to use multiple fighting moves at a time. The are  also tutorials as you play to show you the best way to complete your missions and also assist the audience in learning new fighting moves.                                                                      

The Swing Golf                                                                                                                                          This game is one designed in my opinion for older people who can not be as active as they used to be. This game is played on nintendo DS. It gives the audience the chance to play golf from the comforts of their homes. simply by selecting mode and swinging the controllers of the game console in any direction.                                                                                                                                     

These game have provided me with ideas on how to design my games according to my audience order to create a suitable game about Mantin with the information I have.

                                               

Interactive Design for Game and Web Applications

Scratch 2

After a series of try and errors I was able to make a small interactive game nothing much but a little start to bigger things.
However it was during this period of getting familiar with the software that we took a trip to Mantin to survey and record things we saw around us since it is the theme of our main project hence our key subject matter.
Durin this survey I was able to take pictures of landmarks and textures as well as signage and food.

                                     
                                         fig.1 this is an image of a pay phone by the road side

                                    fig.2 this is an image of a wall this design and texture intrigues me

                                                 fig,3 this is an image of the shops in Mantin

                                           fig.4 an image of a building in the corners of Msntin

                                                                fig. an image of a fruit

                                     fig.4 an image of a road sign on a small road in Mantin

                                           fig.5 an image of fish found in the market place

                                 
                                              fig.6 an image of Maybank in Mantin

All these images have made me take a critical look at Mantin and now would guide me in carefully designing my game and choosing a suitable idea for the game.